She’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, But She’ll Always Be Kate Middleton to Us

We hear you. Kate Middleton married Prince William and now her name is officially Catherine Elizabeth, the Duchess of Cambridge. She is a countess now! Have some respect. And she's been married for two years, so why the persistence of her maiden name, Middleton? At the very least, we should be calling her Catherine instead of Kate. I suppose. Or the Duchess, or Dutchy, or Kitty Kat Crown, or -- oh sorry. I was having fun with her name again. Can't we just call her Kate?

Here's the thing. We know what her proper name is. But we're not going to use it -- at least, not on a regular basis.

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First of all, it's just too formal. I feel like I need to put on my pearls and a pair of gloves to say "Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge." That's quite a mouthful. Seven or eight syllables, depending on how you pronounce Catherine. And the duchess bit, well, it's fancy and impressive, but we usually save our fancy things for special occasions. Why bring out the china for every single meal?

As for her "maiden name" -- how can anyone even use that phrase in this day and age with a straight face? When was the last time you actually met an engaged woman who was technically a maiden? You know what I mean. Half of us keep our born last names after we marry anyway. I sure did. (P.S., more convenient that way when you divorce years later, just saying.) And even if you don't keep your last name, the ghost of it trails after you even after you change to your husband's, always a part of your identity because it was your last name for the first 20, 30, 35 years of your life.

She may be the future Queen Consort, but she'll always be Kate Middleton to us. Using that name reminds us of where she came from -- okay, so she was never exactly one of us. But she wasn't born into royalty, either, and I think that's one of the things people like about her. Princess Diana was known as the "people's princess," and Kate is even more so.

We just like Kate better. Anyway, we're very casual on this side of the pond. No disrespect -- we love that the title exists. But it's Kate for us.

How do you feel about saying "Kate Middleton" vs. "Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge"?